


Something to Fight For

by Pyrobee



Category: Runaways (TV 2017)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, F/F, Femslash, Lesbian, No Evil Parents, Superpowers, Villains, fluff with some plot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-12
Updated: 2018-01-12
Packaged: 2019-03-03 18:13:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,204
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13346748
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pyrobee/pseuds/Pyrobee
Summary: Nico's pretty blonde coworker is always disappearing when the city has a crisis. She's getting a little suspicious. AU.-or-Five times Karolina bails on Nico to fight crime and the one time Nico goes looking for her.





	Something to Fight For

**Author's Note:**

> This world is some weird mix between the TV and comics and something else entirely. Anyway, I've been obsessing over this show and these two characters, so here is the result of that haha. Enjoy!

The first time the pretty blonde bails on her during a crisis, Nico is understanding. She seems pretty innocent, and it's not every day an army of supervillains attacks the city. So Nico just continues to work the counter at Timely Coffee and make drinks for hipsters who can't keep their eyes off the TV screen. It's slow anyways. 

The second time, it's during a rush, so Nico gets a little mad. So dinosaurs are attacking downtown. They work thirty minutes from there! That weird superheroine Lucy in the Sky will take care of things anyway. Nico can't even watch her shoot rainbow rays on the news because she's neck-deep in coffee orders from people with really bad priorities. When Karolina comes back, looking tired but exhilarated, Nico glares through her apologies and makes passive aggressive comments for at least a week afterwards.

The third time, Nico anticipates her. When she sees the breaking news on the TV mounted on the wall, she blocks her from leaving.

"Hey, you have orders to ring up. You know I hate working the register," Nico says, wondering how the girl still has a job (She's no snitch but surely someone's noticed). 

"Sorry! I have another family emergency." Karolina glances at the screen, looking nervous. "Um, I'll make it up to you!"

Nico raises an eyebrow. "Oh yeah? How's that?" She crosses her arms.

"I'll...buy you lunch. Can you cover for me?" Another glance at the screen. "Please?"

Nico tilts her head but moves to the side. "Okay. But don't make this a habit." She watches her leave, eyes narrowing. A couple of minutes later, Lucy in the Sky appears on the scene to fight the creepy sewer monster.

A guy at the register clears his throat, and she holds up a finger without looking at him. "I'm thinking!" she snaps.

The fourth time is at lunch that weekend. It's on the one day they both had off, and Nico actually shows up on time (instead of late for revenge's sake) just to test a theory. Robbers are holding up the bank not too far from the new sandwich place they're supposed to meet up at, and she's watching the stream on her phone as she waits outside. When Lucy in the Sky takes down the last guy with a blast of rainbow light and immediately shoots off into the sky, Nico begins a timer. Less than three minutes later, Karolina comes running out of the alley, breathless and disheveled. She immediately starts apologizing as soon as she sees Nico, saying something about traffic.

Well. If Nico is getting bailed on, at least it's by a superhero. Holy shit.

"It's okay," Nico says, almost cheerfully. "You were only fifteen minutes late. Twenty minutes is where I draw the line."

"Oh." Karolina looks confused for a second but places her hand on Nico's elbow and steers her inside, smiling tentatively. "Um, okay. I'm really sorry though! I'll buy you anything you want, I promise!"

Well. Nico won't say no to a triple espresso and a brownie. Just to make Karolina feel better.

When they sit down, Nico observes Karolina without a word while the blonde shifts uncomfortably.

"Are you really okay--"

"You look different," Nico interrupts, tilting her head. "Almost like...you're glowing."

Karolina freezes, mouth hanging open. Nico simply digs into her brownie as if nothing is the matter.

"Um. I'm...using a new moisturizer," Karolina says, focusing on her meal. She won't meet Nico's eyes, which Nico finds incredibly amusing. 

Nico waits a few moments, relishing in Karolina's discomfort, before adding, "Well, it must be really expensive. I'd almost mistake you for Lucy in the Sky, you're so bright."

The two girls stare at each other, Karolina looking like a deer in the headlights and Nico just smiling blandly. 

Karolina laughs awkwardly a couple of seconds too late and Nico changes the subject.

"Anyway, you wouldn't believe what Mark said the other day. He actually told Katie that she has his mom's legs. Who even says that?"

Karolina laughs despite herself. "Wow. Sounds like someone has an admirer."

The worst part of the whole thing is that Nico actually starts to like the girl. 

It's ego at first, Nico can admit that. She sees the way Karolina looks at her: like Nico's the one who glows like some psychedelic angel. After Nico lets up on the teasing at lunch, they talk about anything and everything: school, work, interests, ideas. And over the next few days, Karolina keeps giving her that look that Alex used to give her before they broke up. It's all wide, attentive eyes and distracted smiles, and Nico, well, Nico eats it all up. It's harmless anyway; she's never swung that way before, after all. And the attention is also really nice. Karolina always touches Nico's arm when she talks to her, and she compliments her every day, and she keeps trying to do things for her, like take the register when it's Nico's turn. Really nice, Nico keeps thinking.

Then Karolina shows up early for their next lunch (not a date!) and stands outside the deli they're meeting at with a worried look in her eyes, pacing. Nico approaches cautiously, and when Karolina turns to keep pacing and catches sight of her, she stops, looking grim.

"You can't stay, huh?" Nico had heard mumblings about some big showdown between Lucy and a superpowered mercenary crew from New York, but she had been scared to listen. Now she wishes she had.

Karolina looks away, and Nico approaches, giving her a hug. Karolina tenses in momentary surprise but hugs back tightly. After a long moment, Nico pulls away to look her in the eyes. It's her big moment; how many people can say they've peptalked a superhero before they went to save the day? It's the least she could do. "Whatever it is, you'll be okay. I believe in you."

Karolina stares into her eyes, and Nico feels a flutter that's maybe probably hunger, but then Karolina leans in and kisses her, and she loses the sense in the rest of her body. Karolina pulls back, and Nico stares at her in surprise as Karolina starts looking worried.

"Whoa," Nico says, and she's definitely not breathless.

Karolina laughs a little, but a distant explosion and scattered screams rip her attention away.

"I have to go! I'm so sorry. Please get somewhere safe!" Karolina gives her one last look and then runs off.

The fifth time Karolina ditches her, Nico realizes maybe she's in trouble. 

Lucy in the Sky has been missing for two days. Nico is devastated. She'd watched the fight between Lucy and the New Yorkers, and she had seen their leader punch Lucy so hard that a normal person probably would have died. Lucy may actually have died. Or maybe she'd been captured. And now the supervillain and his mercenary crew are running roughshod over LA, and the few other superheroes who could take them are all busy with some alien invasion up north.

Nico's parents absolutely forbid her from going out during the crisis. She can't go to class, and her parents say she only needs her job for character building, which is pointless if she ends up dead, so she can't do that either. So instead, she holes up in her room and plays sad music while eating comfort chocolate and watching the news on mute. It's a whole lot of "we don't know what's happening" disguised by pointless facts, but she can't help herself.

Her parents leave to go to work because they're huge hypocrites, so Nico mopes and frets until suddenly the supervillain shows up at the town hall, and Nico sees that he's got Lucy with him. She's tied up and unconscious and has a bomb attached to her, and he throws Karolina into the town hall before turning to the camera aimed at them from a short distance away.

"Unless I get a billion dollars in the next hour, I'm blowing this whole place up: your superhero, your mayor, your damn city next." He marches up to the camera people, who immediately start to run, and his people surround them out of nowhere and start pummeling them.

Nico is pissed and scared, but it's easier being pissed, so she stays there.

She sweeps the chocolate wrappers and covers off her bed, throws her alarm clock across the room, and then goes to her desk to grab more things to throw. She stands there for a minute, wishing for a gun so she could go get Karolina. She grabs a book and throws it, then grabs a pen and accidentally stabs her hand. She watches her own blood ooze from a wound for the first time that she can remember in a long time.

Something shiny juts out of her chest. She gasps and grabs at it, pulling a really long, golden staff out of her body.

"What the fuck?" There's a big circle at the top which glows, and her heart is pounding so hard she's afraid she'll have a heart attack.

Her eyes dart to the feed where the news crew must have fled because the camera is on the ground, and then the feed suddenly goes dead. She growls. "I wish I was there," she said, actually picturing it for a second, pictures punching that guy from New York in the face, and then suddenly she actually is there.

"Oh shit," she whispers, looking around at the dozen men who reel back in surprise.

"Who the hell are you?" one yells, reaching for her.

She stumbles back and yells, "Stop!" and the man actually freezes in midstep, looking horrified. 

"Get her!" yells the ringleader, whose huge physique and ugly face is even more terrifying in person.

Nico's getting the hang of the staff now and yells, "Fire!" picturing flames erupting from her staff, and they really do. The men scream in pain and run from the licking flames until only the leader stands between her and Karolina.

The staff seems to be all out of fire though, and she shakes it as it sputters out, yelling, "Fire! Please fire!"

"Well, little lady," the man says, crossing his arms, "looks like you're all out of juice. Bad timing. Crushing you will be a nice appetizer before crushing this entire city."

He starts to walk toward her, and she scrambles backward, yelling, "Stop!" but she's probably too scared to make it work because he just keeps coming. She turns around to run and sees the most beautiful rainbow of her life. 

Lucy in the Sky flies overhead and blasts the man so hard that he flies at least twenty feet before crashing and sliding across the ground. She lands in front of him, looking only a little worse for wear; she must have been biding her time to escape, and she'd done it right under his nose, thanks to Nico's distraction. The bomb is gone, probably somewhere safe knowing Lucy's track record (not that Nico follows it obsessively), and Nico watches as Lucy puts her hands on her hips and squares up to the bad guy. She can't help but smile: classic superhero pose. 

"You shouldn't have left me unattended, Blade. That was just one of your many mistakes. And now you're toast, just like your bomb." 

Blade tries to stand, but Lucy blasts him again. And then again. And then he's not moving, but she blasts him again.

"Okay." Nico runs up and grabs her arm. "Ka--Lucy. He's not moving."

Through the glow, Nico can see something desperate in the girl's eyes. It fades, and she hangs her head. 

"I'm sorry," the girl says. "I was scared that..."

"I know," says Nico. "Me too." Sirens sound in the distance. "But I've got to get out of here. I don't have a disguise like someone." She looks at the supervillain and says, "Bind," and of course it works and ropes poof into existence because she's not in mortal peril. Karolina scoops her up without warning, and she'll never admit to yelping, but then they're up, up, and away, and it's amazing. They land on a rooftop somewhere in the city just as Nico's getting cold from the wind, and then Lucy's glow is gone. Karolina stands there, fiddling with her bracelet and not meeting Nico's eyes.

"Hey," she says.

"Hey back," says Nico. "Good timing back there, superhero."

Karolina shakes her head and laughs. "I knew you knew."

"You're really bad with secrets," says Nico, laughing back.

"You're really good with them apparently," replied Karolina, looking at the staff. Nico doesn't say that it's a new thing, which she definitely will have to look into later when a pretty girl isn't looking at her like that. She just looks smug and grins when Karolina rolls her eyes. And then the air gets serious. Karolina stares into her eyes, looking so sincere. "You came for me."

And while it had been an accident, Nico would've done it voluntarily. All she'd needed was something to fight with. And, of course, something to fight for. Instead of all that, she says, "Yeah," leans in, and kisses the girl.

**Author's Note:**

> This got way more serious than the fluff I intended. Let me know what you think please!


End file.
